Rotherham United: Nicky Law interview

Published:15:15Updated:15:17Monday 01 February 2010

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Word is getting around that Nicky Law could prove the real Championship deal.

The 21-year-old may have largely banged his head against the equivalent of a brick wall trying to establish himself in one of football's most competitive leagues with first club Sheffield United, but his name has quickly reappeared on the radar during his brief time up the road with the Millers.

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Law, who penned a two-year deal with Rotherham in the summer, snubbing the advances of Bradford City – where he spent two productive loan spells – has seen his star shine this season with United, so much so that Championship surprise packets Blackpool reportedly tested the water with a 150,000 bid earlier this month.

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The offer was soon rebuffed by the Millers, but served notice of the growing esteem in which Nottingham-born Law is held in, with time clearly on his side.

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The talented midfielder, whose lustre dimmed somewhat after making four Premiership appearances as a raw-boned teenager with the Blades in 2006-07, also came under the microscope of ex-Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate in the autumn, if rumours are to be believed.

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For his part, Law remains happy and fully committed to the Millers' mission to find their way out of football's basement and conjure a path back to the Championship under boss Ronnie Moore, as they did under Moore just under a decade ago.

But Law, who saw several of his Shiregreen compatriots make a name for themselves with the Blades after coming through their decorated academy, tacitly acknowledges that the higher division interest is a

sure sign that he is progressing.

On the interest from Blackpool, he said: "I guess it was a surprise, but it was flattering.

"Blackpool made a bid, but it was rejected by the club because they said it wasn't right and they didn't want to sell me – that's up to

them.

"Blackpool are a good side in the Championship who are doing well. I'll hopefully just keep playing well at Rotherham and if you do that, you'll continue to get interest.

"But I'm happy at Rotherham and playing and we're eyeing promotion – I'm just concentrating on things here and working hard."

With promotion seen to be a non-negotiable aim for the ambitious Millers in 2009-10, Law certainly has enough on his plate.

With games in hand on their League Two rivals after a wretched run of luck on the fixture front which saw them fail to kick a ball in anger for the best part of six weeks, the Millers are currently preoccupied in playing catch-up.

After the ultimate wake-up in their first game in well over a month against hapless bottom club Darlington – who stunned them 2-1 at Don Valley Stadium – United have soothed the concerns of anxious supporters by way of Tuesday night's fine victory at derby rivals Chesterfield, which followed on from last Saturday's narrow home win over lowly Grimsby Town.

Despite losing ground on their promotion rivals when frozen out by the cold snap, the damage was pretty negligible and far from insurmountable, with the back-to-back recent wins putting the Millers in the pink again with their fate very much in their own hands.

Law said: "Anyone can beat anybody in this league and that showed with the Darlington result.

"But we've hit back and with the games in hand, we can easily get up to second place.

"The Darlington game was strange having not played for nearly six weeks – before it was just a case of training, going to the gym and working hard.

"It's good to get back in the swing of things, but hopefully, the Darlington result was a one-off.

"The Grimsby win was much needed. Everyone was looking for a response and luckily, we got one.

"We deserved criticism after Darlington and while the Grimsby performance wasn't a great one, the points were the main thing."

Not for the first time this season, goal ace Adam Le Fondre took centre stage in the 2-1 victory over the Mariners, with his predatory instincts seeing him gobble up the two chances which came his way.

Le Fondre, who joined from promotion rivals Rochdale shortly after the start of the season, has quickly become the darling of Millers fans, just as current boss and fellow striker Moore was during the early 1980s.

And prior to the postponed home clash with Macclesfield Town, he was one off breaking the 20-goal barrier for the season – with a third of the games still to go, moreso in the case of United.

The Macc test would have been the start of a sequence of five home matches in the next seven and with Le Fondre having scored goals for fun so far at the Don Valley Stadium, the record books could yet be smashed by the red-hot frontman this term.

Law is an unabashed fan of the Stockport-born hitman – who can't be transferred this term as he has already played for two parent clubs – and has likened him to another hot-shot.

Namely Billy Sharp, his ex-Bramall Lane team-mate who is currently firing the bullets for Doncaster Rovers.

Law said: "He's up there with the best I've seen.

"you might not see him for 20 or 25 minutes, but then he scores and he's vital to our promotion hopes. we have him for the rest of the season.

"Billy Sharp was similar. Like Billy, Alfie (Le Fondre) is not the biggest, but comes alive in the box and is lightning quick.